Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach mentioned that he is shocked about the trolley crisis, about the numbers involved and about how slowly the matter is being dealt with. It is a pity the Minister for Health has left. Mary Street Medical Centre in Clonmel is a fine facility and has excellent diagnostic equipment. The Minister visited the centre and saw this with his own two eyes. After three years, the HSE gave the centre a 14-day contract to carry out diagnoses. That worked to relieve the numbers waiting on trolleys in South Tipperary General Hospital but, after eight days, the HSE pulled the contract, despite two and a half years of negotiations and even a visit from the Minister. That is the kind of incompetence that is going on in the HSE and why we have what we have. The Taoiseach need not be shocked at all because he is a former incumbent in the Department and he should know all about the trolley crisis. The medical centre in question has the capacity and an excellent team of doctors and staff connected to University Hospital Limerick to read scans, which would keep people away from the emergency department. It is a simple solution. There is an excellent team in the centre and it has made a huge investment in equipment. It was given a 14-day contract, which was the shortest ever. The HSE pulled the contract after eight days saying that it did not have the money to pay for it. Money is being channelled in the wrong direction and anybody can see that. Will the Taoiseach please try to insist that common sense prevails in the HSE or the Department of Health?

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